2. Dale Earnhardt Sr. Was the Master of the Shootout

Dale Earnhardt was the undisputed master of NASCAR's season-opening dash for cash.

He won it on six different occasions (1980, '86, '88, '91, '93, '95).

On four of those occasions, he used his Shootout win to launch a champion season in 1980, 1986, 1991 and 1993.

Only Darrell Waltrip (1981), Jeff Gordon (1997) and Tony Stewart (2002) have managed to duplicate Earnhardt's feat of backing up a Shootout win with a season title, and they only managed to do it once each.

5. There's Only One Lap That Really Counts

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Seven times in the history of the Shootout, the winner only managed to lead the last lap.

Most recently, Kevin Harvick saved the best for last in 2009.

Dale Earnhardt (1980), Neil Bonnett (1983-84), Rusty Wallace (1998) and Dale Jarrett (2000, 2004) also saved their best work for the last circuit, winning the race by leading the only lap that really pays the big money: the last one.